{"id":16318,"date":"2026-07-10T15:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T15:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.strangethingstraveling.com\/getting-around-by-public-transportation-in-the-caucasus\/"},"modified":"2026-08-19T12:24:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T12:24:13","slug":"getting-around-by-public-transportation-in-the-caucasus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.strangethingstraveling.com\/en\/getting-around-by-public-transportation-in-the-caucasus\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Around by Public Transportation in the Caucasus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Before leaving, getting around by public transportation in the Caucasus<\/strong> seemed like it might be a problem. I\u2019d read in various sources about the dreadful marshrutkas<\/strong>\u2014ramshackle minibuses dating back to the Soviet era. Even people I know have told me about stops in the middle of nowhere; about being surrounded by smoke filling the passenger compartment; about being abandoned on the road; or, for those who had rented a car, about wandering through the steppe with a gas can in search of fuel. <\/p>\n\n

None of that happened to me; maybe I’m lucky, or maybe, after my experiences in Senegal, nothing fazes me anymore: Traveling on Your Own in Africa: Unique Public Transportation<\/a><\/p>\n\n

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When you leave the capital cities, you can admire a variety of sights, including the mystical monasteries with their ancient little churches <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Public transportation in the Caucasus, as well as tours<\/h2>\n\n

One of the most entertaining aspects of the trip was discovering that in all three countries, there\u2019s a real passion for customizing license plates. Many feature symmetrical digits and numbers, repeated sequences, or combinations that clearly hold special meaning for their owners. If it were easier and more affordable to do this in Italy, I\u2019d choose FA 810 GO or IO 101 OI. <\/p>\n\n

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You can also reach the Stepantsminda Church by public transportation, but taking a tour allows you to see more of the area.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Since I only had a few days, I chose to take a day tour from the capital in all three countries so I could have more experiences. A couple of times, the service wasn\u2019t the best. For example, in Azerbaijan, to get us to visit the usual artisans that every tour stops at, they made us eat (a small meal) at 3:00 p.m. <\/p>\n\n

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It looks like a painting or a doctored photo, but it actually came out just like this. And most importantly, the bride isn’t even mine! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Day Trip from Baku<\/h2>\n\n

The memorable moment from my experience traveling by public transportation in the Caucasus is captured in the featured photo, taken by the driver who called himself the “Schumacher of Azerbaijan<\/em>.”<\/p>\n\n

When he told us that the beat-up Lada<\/strong> we were riding in was from \u201984, the three very young Chinese guys who were with me couldn\u2019t believe it. Between one jolt and the next, they laughed nonstop for 10 minutes, all the way to our destination, the mud volcanoes<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

Actually, they\u2019re small mounds from which hot mud oozes out; it seems as if the earth is bubbling. I saw the same phenomenon in the province of Modena, Italy, as well. But the short ride to get there was a lot of fun\u2014it felt like being on a roller coaster, and every now and then our driver had to stop for various maintenance tasks. <\/p>\n\n

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Routine and frequent maintenance: a symbolic photo of public transportation in the Caucasus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

On this trip that started in Baku, we also saw other interesting things, including some modern buildings on the outskirts of the city:<\/p>\n\n